The Piercing Wind
by RiceBowlDevils
Summary: Having been kicked out of the Dursley's house on a winter evening, Harry found himself walking the snow covered streets looking for shelter. Apon arriving at Wool's Orphanage, Harry is put in a room with a boy named Tom, a boy who is feared by everyone at Wool's. But figuring out why is much easier than trying to fall asleep in springy beds with too thin sheets. Slash and Tom/Harry
1. Meeting

Notes- Rikki here with another story. This may become a multi chapter story but i'll see how it goes, hope you like it c:

Chapter One- The Piercing Wind

The piercing wind shook the bones of a small boy as he blew warm puffs of white smoke into his cupped hands. Frozen rain falled from the sky, turning to snow covering anything the unforgiving wind could touch. The wind was unnervingly cold, tussling frozen brown hair. Green eyes watering, the boy rubbed them before quickly moving them back in front of his mouth. Blowing warm air that never reached his fingertips was all the malnourished boy could do even though he knew it was futile.

The small boys name was Harry Potter or freak if spoken by anyone living in number 4 Privet Drive. Four people lived in the small two story house identical to every other on the street. Petunia, a tall skinny woman who has dark brown curls for hair and always wearing some sort of dress, Vernon a Fat whale of a man with light rusty hair and moustache who goes to work to feed his family, Dudley a chubby child with smoothly cut brown hair who idolises his farther to the point that he is a mini Vernon. Then Finally a small neglected boy named Harry with soft brown hair and bright green eyes who has seen the unforgiving world for what it is.

Harry had been kicked out of the house on a cold winter night. Harry stayed for as long as he could waiting outside the door even going as far to yell in hopes of them opening the door when it got too cold. Why does this happen to me? I did what they asked I didn't mean to burn dinner. Dudley had taken the stool Harry needed to reach the stove top and because of the delayed time it took to get it back the roast burned.

The howling of the wind rustled the poor excuse of clothing that did nothing to protect harry from the winter elements. After waiting around the front yard even going to the back to check the backdoor and shed Harry went looking for shelter. The snow felt heavily and made his hand me down clothes wet and constricting. Harry never got any clothes for himself, too expensive to get new ones even though Dudley needed new ones often as he was growing to the size of a small walrus, so Harry got to keep Dudley's out grown clothes.

Harry could remember the time he first asked for new clothes, it would be two years prior.

A 5 year old Harry looked at his aunt Petunia who was giving pieces of clothing after another to Dudley and pushing him into the dressing room, closing the curtain Petunia looked down at the Wide eyed boy looking up to her "aunt Petunia can I get some clothes too?" Harry asked hopefully, she stared down at harry with a disgusted look on her face "new clothes? for YOU! don't think such things freak, the only clothes you will be getting is Dudley's old clothes, its what you deserve after all." harry mumbled a quiet okay and turned away so she couldn't see how upset harry was by her reply.

Teary eyed Harry walked around the small store, his child like mind creating adventures as he walked through rows of hanging clothes to keep his mind off of what just happened. Harry's mind kept him entertained until aunt Petunia called him back where she was with a pile of clothes at the counter. It was futile for Harry to think even one piece of cloth was his and Petunia was just joking, that when she turned around she would look apologetic and say sorry.

But no when she turned around disdain covering her features "Harry go pack these in the car for me wont you" smiling sweetly at the person working the counter Petunia started up a conversation "Harry here is such a sweetheart, always wanting to help me its like he cant help himself always wanting to do something" Harry ignored the rest of the conversation as he picked up the clothes and trudged towards the car.

Aunt Petunia would talk nicely and act kind in front of other people but once out of ear/eye shot she would stop quickly and treat him like dirt, its a surprise no one has caught her yet. The drive home was silent if not for Dudley's sequels as he plays with a toy dinosaur he found in the car.

When they got home Dudley ran towards the house forgetting about the new clothes in the trunk. Leaving it to Harry who looked at his aunt "bring them inside and put them in Dudley's bedroom" leaving the small boy to take the bags inside Petunia went to open the front door for Dudley. Quickly opening the trunk Harry grabbed as many bags as he could leaving some in the trunk he ran inside, and up the stairs and past Dudley's second bedroom. Dumping the bags and running back outside to get the rest but tripped over an obviously well placed foot. Landing on his stomach and scraping his hands Harry looked over his shoulder at Dudley "haha freak"

Dudley's vocabulary wasn't as immense as Harry's so he couldn't come up with anything better. With narrowed eyes Harry ignored his cousin and got up getting back to work, but the small obese child didn't take kindly to being ignored and went to push Harry down, only to be side stepped and fall face first onto the ground.

A high pinched wail that could be heard down the street, came from Dudley, he was historical only a small fall but it was probably worse then it looked. Petunia ran out of the house to see a glaring Harry and a crying Dudley, coming to her own conclusion she glared hatefully at Harry and picked up her Dudder's carrying him inside to care for his wounds leaving a scraped Harry outside.

Pulling the thin t-shirt closer to himself Harry remembered what happened when uncle Vernon came home, later that day it was the first beating Harry had received, and it was not his last. Uncle Vernon would find a variety of reasons to beat Harry, many would be when un-explainable things would happen around Harry.

There was a time when Harry was 3 that one of Petunia's ornamental plates started floating down from the top shelf of an antique cupboard that Petunia owned. Harry found it fascinating how it floated in front of him, he was about to touch it when a loud screech came from the living room doorway, here stood Petunia with a horrified look plastered on her face.

The sudden sound made Harry flinch and the plate to fall to the floor breaking into several different pieces, Petunia's horrified face turned to a livid one as she marched towards the terrified boy. Grabbing the boys arm and dragging him towards Vernon who was reading the news paper at the dining table "The freak did something freakish and destroyed one of my antique plates"

Vernon who became purple in the face dropped the news paper and stood up then began to yell spitting at the boy who shrunk away "what sort of freakishness?!" Petunia scowled down at Harry as she replied "one of my antique plates floated and dropped on the floor breaking it"

"after all we've done for you, we have clothed you, fed you and gave you a roof over your head, and you here you go doing something freakish" wide fearful eyes stared up at the whale of a man.

Harry didn't know what he did or why it made his uncle and aunt angry with him but he will try to not do it again, harry was about to tell his uncle but a shadow of a fist came down before he could even get one word out.

Harry slept cold and hungry inside his small bedroom, not even a bedroom it was the cupboard under the stairs, he has slept here since forever. Whimpering and pulling the thin blanket closer to himself harry slowly drifted off.

Trudging through the snow covered ground Harry came to a stop, looking up at a big looking house. The lights were off but Harry had hope that someone would let him in, just for the night would be enough. He didn't want to go back to the Dursley's, sleeping on the streets is safer then living with people who beat him everyday.

Slowly walking up the steps to the door Harry sees a large sign over the gate of the two story building saying "Wool's Orphanage" an orphanage would even be better then the streets.

Loudly nocking on the door Harry waited for a response and what he got didn't shock him, the door opened to show a annoyed looking old woman. She did not look surprised to see a young child half freezing, standing outside her door it must happen often then.

"come in we will get you a room" she sighed and ushered the small boy out of the cold and into a mildly warmer hallway, grabbing Harry's arm in a bruising grip the woman dragged him up the stairs "you can sleep in Tom's room for the night, tomorrow we will get you registered" at that she opened a door pushed him in and closed the door behind herself.

Looking around Harry couldn't see much, dark shadows over took most of the room but he could make out two small beds parallel to each other, one was occupied so Harry slowly walked to the other and crawled under the covers.

Turning around to face the other boy in the room harry was startled to see two calm grey eyes staring back at him.


	2. Friends

Now chapter two has been posted on Archive Of Our Own for months but I never got around to uploading it on but that has now changed. I hope you all enjoy chapter two.

Harry was glad that the matron let him inside. She could've left him outside in the cold, but she opened the doors and let a helpless child in. The orphanage wasn't what Harry expected, but that might be because he had never been inside one before.

There were strict rules that all the children must follow. Rules like, clean up after yourself and be in the dining hall for dinner at exactly 7pm. Harry didn't question the rules even if he was a little annoyed with them. The kids at the orphanage were weird as Harry found out later at breakfast, they were excited and cheerful once they realised there was a new face in the building, but once they found out what room he was sleeping in they all became distant and rude, mean even.

So Harry found himself sitting by himself at lunch. Not even a full day and he was ostracized and left to his own thoughts, Harry bitterly thought. He didn't know what he did to make everyone hate him, it was only his first day after all. They seemed scared of his roommate, but Harry didn't see anything wrong with him, maybe he was a little scary and doesn't talk much, but that wasn't anything bad. Harry found out that he himself would rather play on his own than hang out with the other kids.

As if on cue Harry's roommate walked out of the building and away from the other kids. If the other kid didn't want to spend at least some time talking about anything that pops into their heads, then Harry would make due with the only person who hasn't awkwardly moved away from him.

With that thought in mind Harry sat up from beneath the tree he was under and made his way to the other side of the yard.

Upon arriving Harry noticed the way the older boy looked, he didn't get a good view when he first arrived because of how dark it was, and when he woke up in the morning the boy was already gone.

The boy was obviously taller than him but that was definitely because of the dursley's. His hair was an inky black but it didn't look unkempt, more the opposite actually, it was neat and framed his face perfectly, he had pale skin and sharp grey eyes. Harry wasn't sure why everyone would hate such a pretty looking boy so he did what any other curious 7 years old would do, he asked.

"Why does everyone hate you?" not the subtlest of ways to ask but it would do. Harry wasn't known for being subtle anyway.

"Why do you want to know?" the boy's words were not choppy with childlike vocabulary, but more smooth and adult like. Scratching his cheek Harry thought of his answer before saying it. Which was new to him because most of his beatings came around because he doesn't know when to 'think before speaking' as Petunia once said.

"Well, everyone stopped talking to me once they found out we were sleeping in the same room, so I wanted to know" it was an innocent reply which Harry hoped the boy would accept.

"They don't like me" The answer puzzled Harry but he accepted it anyway.

"Why?"

"Because I'm different" Harry could see why the other kids thought him to be different. He was well groomed, didn't speak like another child, though Harry doesn't either, and gives off this 'I am better than you' aura. But is that really all of it? would all the kids not like one boy because of petty reasons?

"Well my names Harry, and I think they're all idiots" Thrusting his hand out in front of himself Harry introduced himself. He had seen Uncle Vernon introduce himself like this multiple times, minus the last part of course.

The other boy looked as if he was contemplating on what to do next, that was until a small smile formed on his lips and the boy grabbed Harry's hand and shook it "Tom, my names Tom"

Smiling Harry pulled Tom down to sit on the grass "What's it like living at an orphanage?" Harry scooted closer to Tom so he could hear his answer. "It's... Something, I haven't found the right word that describes it" Only later when they are both 9 years old does Tom find the correct term, Hell.

"Oh, ok. What do you do for fun around here?" Harry curiously asked.

"Well, you have that soccer ball" Tom pointed at a worn looking ball the other kids were kicking around "There are also some toys inside but most of them are broken" looking around Harry noticed the lack of things to play with, pouting he groaned.

"Is that all there is to do around here?"

Tom stopped to think before looking at Harry "Well, we are allowed to go outside the orphanage. But we have to be back before dinner"

Harry's pout turned into a grin before Tom even finished his sentence. He quickly grabbed Tom's hand and dragged him up and towards the gates "We are going on an adventure"

Tom stumbled behind Harry before quickly taking his hand out of the other boy's grip. "We will miss lunch, won't you be hungry?" the two stopped walking the second lunch was mentioned, Harry spoke slowly "No, lunch can wait" Tom watched as Harry continued to the gates before sighing and following.

Life became a routine for the two boys. Wake up, eat, explore the neighbouring streets, eat, sleep. Tom finally had enough of the constant dragging. Annoyed, he stopped and put his foot down as if to say no. In a strict but stern voice, he spoke "We're not going outside today"

Harry, who was laying on his bed, turned his head to look at Tom "What why? We still haven't gone into that alley, I heard that there are feral cats inside"

Tom crossed his arms as he sat on his own bed "Because I want a break, and it would do you some good to read something" Harry looked horrified at the thought of learning, it wasn't something he did often. He was never put into school, too much work to have two children go to school when one of them could be cleaning at home.

"Do I have to?" whined Harry

Standing up and walking to his cupboard he opened it to reveal a variety of books, taking a stack of heavy looking books, Tom placed them in front of Harry on the bed and handed him the one at the top of the pile. "Studying isn't as bad as you think Harry. You just have to think about it in a different light"

Harry reluctantly took the book and read the title "Animals 101?" Tom calmly smiled before replying "Studying isn't just for maths or history, you can read whatever you want, better knowing than not knowing"

Harry reluctantly agreed and opened the book and started to read. It was surprisingly relaxing and not at all what Harry thought it to be.

The room was quiet, the only sound came from Harry flipping pages, seconds later Tom would also flip a page. The simple acts were the only thing that stopped the room from being completely silent. By the time dinner rolled around Harry had almost finished the book, sighing when everyone was called down for dinner he folded the corner of the page he was on and closed the book.

"We should do this more often" Harry commented idly as Tom opened the door, Tom silently agreed.

The two walked down the hall to the stairs only to see their path blocked by two 10-year-olds who were standing in the middle of the hall just before the stairs. "Look who it is, the two freaks decide to show themselves" The tallest of the two spoke. The boy next to him chuckled darkly

Tom glared at the two before looking at Harry, who looked scared and smaller than what he normally is. "Get out of our way, I can't stand being in your presence, I fear it lowers my IQ." Billy looked dumbly ahead, it was obvious that he didn't understand the insult that Tom threw at him. "The skull is thick with this one Harry, I'll be cautious when you're around him. Just looking at him makes me feel as if my intelligence is decreasing rapidly" Tom's last statement made what was left of Billy's smile fade, and instead, it was quickly replaced with a sneer.

"Shut up Riddle" Billy fumed. He looked intimidating from where Harry stood. the situation made Harry feel uncomfortable, and the two boys made him feel vulnerable. He started taking steps back and hid behind Tom, he gripped the bottom of Tom's shirt as his body posture wilted when angry hazel eyes moved from Tom to him, they looked humiliated and angry. The way they glared at Harry reminded him of uncle vernon when he was angry.

Tugging Tom's shirt Harry whispered into his ear "We're going to miss dinner." Nodding at Harry's statement Tom spoke up "Move, we have somewhere to be" Tom's voice was cold and void of any emotion, which should've scared the two older boys. Luckily it did, but it didn't deter them from their plan.

The smaller of the two finally spoke up in an undignified manner "Don't speak to us like that you bloody-" -the insult was cut short when a matron turned the corner and saw the group, the boy immediately shut up and took a step back.

"Ahem" She was one of the younger workers at Wool's but still old enough to work "What are you all doing here? Dinner is being served downstairs"

The older boys quickly apologised before jogging down the stairs and out of sight. "Come on Harry, let's go" Tom's soothing voice calmed Harry enough to let go of his shirt. Harry had never been good with bullies, Dudley would always get his friends to chase Harry around the front yard and streets, Dudley called it 'Harry Hunting' Harry himself wasn't very fond of the game.

Once all the food had been eaten the children were all sent to their rooms at exactly half-past seven. Only once Tom and Harry made their way into their room did Harry faceplant onto his bed "I hate it when they say that" Tom was confused by Harry's statement "Say what?" Tom asked.

Grumbling Harry rolled over to look at the older boy "Freak" Tom pursed his lips before sitting on his own bed "I agree"

Bunching up the blankets Harry hugged them with all his strength "Can we do something to make them stop? So they won't bother us again?" Tom's eyes softened when he eyed Harry who was hugging the sheet thin blankets "don't worry, They won't bother us again"

Nodding Harry unbunched the blankets and settled his head on his pillow "Night Tom"

Getting under the covers Tom turned to see Harry's already sleeping face "Night"

The next day started off with the high pitched screams of the head matron. She had found Billy Stubbs rabbit hanging from the rafters.

kudos for Goldfish \\(^-^)


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